Mattlures
Cranks It Up With Their Latest Masterpiece: Their Hard Bluegill Series of Baits
(continued)

Components: From what we can surmise from the bait, Mattlures is using stainless steel hardware throughout. The split rings are those typically seen on Musky baits, and the hooks are very sharp though not from the big bait tossers' preferred brand, Owner. These appear to be size 2 hooks on the Hard Gill and really, held up quite well for us over the coarse of testing.

One of the
rare billed versions of the Mattlures Hard Gill.

Durability: The only casualty we've experienced thus far with this bait was from an
inadvertent toss onto a dock. The result was a broken pelvic fin and one small chip in an otherwise fantastic paint job. Thus far, we haven't experienced any troubles with the hooks digging into the bait's finish and the soft tails have held up well through several trips and several fish although from the looks of the bait, the tail is easily replaced nonetheless.

Once the
initial run of billed baits are sold, Mattlures will no longer be offering this
version.

Application & Effectiveness: Needless to say, Chad Bracknell and the rest of the staff at DreamLake Lodge in Alabama were quite astonished to see the size bass that committed to hitting this bait - not from the perspective that the bass were huge. No, quite the contrary, Chad was astonished to see that bass in the two to four pound class didn't think twice about hitting this bait and hitting it with conviction.

An overall look at the Female Gill color pattern.

That's what makes a bait like this so much fun to throw. While it goes without saying the Mattlures Hard Gill has big fish potential, it's very reassuring to know you can catch and land bass as small as two pounds on this bait without any difficulty. A fact that makes it that much easier to build enough confidence to commit to a bait of this style and size for a full day of fishing fun.

More than one DreamLake fish succumbed to the temptation of this bait.

Availability: The Mattlures Hard Gill is available right now online. At the time of this writing, models were limited to only the floating version, but we're sure the sinking model will follow shortly. The more important point here though, is at fifty dollars for a hand made, hand painted bait of this extreme quality, once this article is published, quantities will dwindle fast!

Ratings:

Mattlures Hard Bluegill Series Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality

It's hard to imagine a bait better than this

9.5

Performance

Every one of our four baits swim well right out of the package

9

Price

Expensive in a general sense, but VERY affordable by HANDMADE and HAND PAINTED, big bait standards

8

Features

Only question here may be in the stock hooks, but we had no problems

7.5

Design (Ergonomics)

Matt Servant is a licensed taxidermist and it shows in his new line of hardbaits

10

Application

We haven't stopped throwing this bait yet and do not intend to anytime soon!

Conclusion: There's no doubt, part of the fun with throwing big baits is the "ooh" and "ahh" effect you receive when showing others what you're tying onto the end of the line. The more realistic a bait, the more appreciation that is stirred even from those who do not believe you can catch a fish on these baits. Then of course, to be able and turn around and actually catch fish to show those unfamiliar with the big bait craze the effectiveness of these oversized plugs, well let's just say it's a lot of fun spreading the addiction.

Fish catching fun with a bait that is as fun to throw as it is to admire. Mattlures' new Hard Bluegill swimbait is a hands down winner of TackleTour's Editor's Choice Award!

There is, on the market today, no more realistic a bluegill imitator in a soft bait than that we've seen from Mr. Matt Servant. The very fact that his new Hard Bluegill blows his soft bait away in realism is in itself mind blowing. The added fact that this realism comes to us, the consumer, in a package that also catches fish, well, that's just downright unfair to Mr. Bass. Throw in the final ingredient that this very bait can be ordered right now and be at your doorstep in the very next day or two and you have one of those very rare moments where the big three TackleTour editors agree, Mattlures' new Hard Bluegill Series bait is an Editor's Choice Award product!